Coin controlled doorbell device



Jan. 16, 1940.

M. P. TORRANCE 2,187,578

COIN CONTROLLED DOORBELL DEVICE Filed Sept. 22, 1937 INVENTOR.

BY MURPHY P 7Z7REANCE AfToRNEYs Patented Jan. 16, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in doorbell systems, and more particularly to coin controlled doorbell systems of the type requiring the caller to deposit a coin before ringing of the be I can be effected.

I am well aware of the fact that numerous deviceshave'heretofore been made to control idoorbell systems by coins for the purpose of reducing to aminimum the ringing of door bells,

10 by undesirable or unwanted callers, but all of such priordevices, to the best of my knowledge, [have been highly complicated structures; costly to manufacture; and extremely difficult to install, thus requiring skilled labor.

1 Another objection to doorbell systems of this type in the past, has been that to install them, it was necessary to cut into the door or doorframing, or in some cases both, which in addition to being costly from a point of installation de- D faced the door and door-frame, in the event it became desirable to remove the system at some time later.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved coin controlled door- Il bell system, the construction of which is extremely simple, and which can be economically manufactured and marketed at a comparatively. low cost.

Another object of the invention,'is to provide ,80 acoincontrolled,self-contained unit, which can be easily and quickly interchanged for the conventional doorbell button, without requiring skilled labor, and Without defacing the door or the door-frame, to which it is attached.

l6 Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description, relating to the accompanying drawing, which show the preferred form. The essential characteristics are summarized in the claims.

44) 1 Referring now to the drawing, wherein like reference characters represent corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which: Fig. l is a front elevation of a coin controlled doorbell made in accordance with the- 4 present invention; Fig. 2 is a similar view with the outer stamped case removed to clearly show the base and associated parts and with a coin inserted and partially broken away to expose one terminal of the coin controlled bell circuit; Fig. 3 5 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on a plane corresponding to line 3-3 of Fig. l, and looking in the direction indicated by the arrowheads; Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view of the parts shown in :Fig. 1 on offset planes indicated by the line 4-4 on Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a cross section of Fig, 1

as indicated, for example, by the lines 5-5 on Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary front elevation, partly broken away, and partly shown in section to illustrate a modification of the coin chute, and chute door, and; Fig. 7 illustrates a schematic view of the wiring diagram for the system.

Referring now to the drawing for a detailed description of the present invention, and for the moment to Fig. l, the reference numeral I0 designates as a whole, my improved self-contained coin controlled doorbell unit, which may be easily and quickly interchanged for the conventional doorbell button.

The principal parts of this unit comprise the base II and the case I2. In the preferred arrangement base II is made from any non-conductive material, such for example, as wood, hard rubber, plastics, glass, or if desired, from metal which is suitably electrically insulated. As best shown in Fig. 2, the base I I is preferably rectangular in shape and its marginal edges may be beveled as shown; the'base II is further provided with a tortuous open recess, hereinafter referred to as the coin chute I3. The upper end of this chute terminates near the left hand end of the beveled edge I4, and the lower end terminates near the lower end of the beveled edge I5, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The width of the chute I3, is slightly greater than the diameter of thecoin intended for use in operating the system, so that the coin, when inserted in the chute, will drop under the influence of gravity. The outer wall of chute I3 is formed by case I2, when the latter is mounted over the base as best seen in Fig. 5. The base II supports terminals I6 and H of the bell circuit, hereinafter referred to, and the head of terminal I6 protrudes slightly into the coin chute I3, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 4. Terminal I1 is positioned on one side of the chute, and serves to anchor one end of a flexible metallic strip I8 to the base. The anchored end of strip I8 is preferably recessed into the base as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4 so as not to interfere, or come into contact with, the case I2. The free end of the flexible metallic strip I8 extends nearly across the chute I3, and out of alignment with terminal I6 and is bent slightly away from the base to permit a coin to pass readily between it and said terminal.

In order to complete the doorbell circuit, it is necessary to bridge the strip I8 with terminal It, and this is accomplished in the present invention, by stopping the inserted coin at a point Within the chute, between the strip I 8 and terminal I6. Means for stopping a coin C in the position shown in Fig. 2 may comprise a bar l9, slidably received by slots 28-18 in base H (Fig. 3) and normally urged to coin stopping position by spring 25 encircling said bar, and received by a large recess 22 in base H. The outer end of bar iii protrudes beyond the base,and has attached thereto, in any suitable manner, a knob or finger piece 23, by which the bar can be manually withdrawn against the tension of spring ii to permit the coin C to drop to the lower extremity of chute it where it is stopped y Chute door 2d.

The case may be stamped from sheet metal, and shaped to conform to the base. In such form, it has beveled sides, the angle of which corresponds to the beveled sides of the base, while slots 25 and 26 are provided in two of such sides, and in a position to register with the upper and lower ends, respectively, of chute It. The chute door 24 is hinged to the case 92, as at 21, and in a position to cover the slot iii, and is normally held closed over said slot as by spring 23. The free end of the door terminates in a finger piece 29 which extends beyond the face of the beveled side 30 of case i2, in a manner permitting it tobe grasped for the purpose of opening the door against the tension of spring 28, when removin the coin from the chute.

Referring now to the wiring diagram, illustrated in Fig. '7, the conductors 3l-3l represent service lines supplying the customary volts to the primary P of a conventional transformer T. Conductor 32 connects one terminal of bell B with one terminal of the secondary S or" transformer T, and conductor 34 connects the other terminal of bell B with terminal i'l. Terminal it is connected with the remaining; terminal of the secondary S of the transformer T as by electrical conductor 33. It will become apparent that when a caller inserts a coin through slot 25 in case l2, and allows it to drop within the chute i3, it will be stopped in said chute by bar i9 and interposed between the strip l8 and terminal 16, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2.

With the coin C in this position, it is only necessary to press the strip it against the coin C and the coin in turn against that portion of terminal it, which protrudes into the chute 43, to close the electrical circuit for bell B. To this end I provide a push-button, preferably of nonconductive material and having a flange 36 formed integral therewith. The reduced portion 35 of said button is slidably received by an opening in the case it, and the diameter of this opening is smaller than thediarneter of the flange, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4 to prevent removal of the button. The case l2, may be dished out in the region of the push-button, if desired, to allow sufiicient space for a coin. to drop between the strip l8 and the terminal IS without closing the bell circuit, until the button 35 is pressed inwardly.

When assembling my novel coin controlled bell button unit, the first step is to attach the conductors to terminals iii and I! respectively, as for example, by nuts 3'! threaded to the terminals as shown in Fig. i. If desired, recesses 39 may be supplied in the base member to receive the nuts 3,? and in this way keep the rear surface of the base flat so that it can be mounted upon any smooth surface as for example, a door or door-frame. After the conductors 3334 are attached to the terminals Hi and H and the pushbutton 35 inserted in the opening in case l2, the case is fitted over the base and the entire unit mounted in the desired location as by screw 38, passing through the case and base.

In Fig. 6, I have shown a modified base and case, and, as here shown, the coin chute I3a terminates at the bottom rather than at the side of the case, and the chute door 24a is shown hinged at 21a and provided with a spring clip 28a, which is adapted to snap past an obstruction 281) formed in the chute 13a. In this manner the chute door is held in. a closed position, when snapped shut. The chute door 24a is also provided with a finger piece 2911 which extends outwardly beyond the case so as to be readily grasped by a caller when it is desired to open the chute door- Ma for the purpose of retrieving his coin. It will be noted that in this construction, the beveled side walls of the base and case are eliminated.

It will be readily apparent from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, that I have invented an extremely simple coin controlled door bell system, which can be inexpensively manufactured and sold and which can be installed by unskilled labor; which is extremely compact in design; and which can be readily and quickly interchanged for the conventional door bell push-button.

While I have herein disclosed specific applications of my invention, it will be understood that it is capable of application in other modifications and arrangements, which will be apparent to those skilled in this. art, and I desire to include such within the scope and meaning of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A coin controlled push-button unit for electrical doorbell systems comprising in combination, a base of non-conductive material having a coin chute therein, a case adapted to fit over the base to complete said chute, manually operable means adapted to intercept the chute including a sliding bar, resilient means to normally hold said bar in intercepting position within the chute, a pair of electrical terminals carried by the base. one of which is partially exposed within the chute, a spring member anchored to the other of said terminals and partially extending into the chute, and push-button slidably carried by the case and adapted to be manually moved to cause a coin dropped in the chute and arrested by said bar to contact with one of said. terminals and said spring member.

2. In a self-contained controlled push-button unit for electrical doorbell systems, the combination of an elongated base having beveled sides and made from non-conductive material, a tortuous coin chute formed in the base, a metal case fitted over the base and having dishedout portion supplied with an opening, a pair of electrical conductors carried by the base, coin arresting means slidably mounted in the base and normally intercepting the chute, manually operable means for withdrawing the coin arresting means from within the chute when desired, a push-button carried by the case and projecting through the opening in the latter, and a coin chute door normally closing the lower end of said chute, the unit being. characterized in that when a coin is dropped into said chute and arrested adjacent said terminals by said arresting means it can be moved to bridging position across said terminals upon depression of said push-button.

3. In an electrically operated annunciator system, a generally flat base having a channel-like shallow depression in its front face which extends in a generally vertical direction in the applied position of the base, a hollow casing fitting over the base in a manner to close the open side of the depression and provide a guiding chute for a coin or token, spaced conductor means on the base associated with the interior of the chute and adapted to be electrically bridged by a coin or a token of predetermined size in a manner to close an annunciator circuit when the coin or token is in a predetermined position in the chute, and releasable means accessible from outside the easing, and projecting into the chute to arrest a coin in such position.

4. A coin controlled push-button unit for electrical doorbell systems, comprising in combination a base in the form of a substantially fiat slab having a comparatively wide and shallow upright groove in its face, a cover adapted to fit over the base, the base and cover together providing by means of said groove a gravitational coin chute, a device operable from the exterior for interrupting said chute and supporting a coin dropped therein, a spring strip of metal secured to the base and extending across the chute in position to engage a coin of proper size adjacent the edge thereof, means for connecting one terminal to the spring strip and the other terminal to a contact adapted to be engaged by the coin, and a push-button supported by the cover and available for pressing said strip against the coin.

MURRAY P. TORRANCE. 

